The U.S. Navy has awarded defense contractor Boeing with a $71.3 million contract to upgrade its T/AV-8B Harrier II short takeoff vertical landing (STOVL) capable fighter jets, of which approximately 80 are currently in active service. The contract for upgrades is accompanied by a further $16 million contract for engineering and support for the Harrier II fleet.

“We will continue to be a fourth-gen/fifth-gen fleet out until about 2030, with Harriers probably going to 2028 and F/A-18s going to 2030-2031,” said Lt. Gen. Steven R. Rudder, the Marine Corps’ deputy commandant for aviation. He testified April 4 during a hearing of the Tactical Air and Ground Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee."

In September 2018, the Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller directed that various Marine Corps units incorporate forced marches into combat readiness evaluations.

That directive has resulted in new changes to training and readiness manuals that will see grunts moving farther distances while also testing combat effectiveness after a long hike carrying considerable weight.

According to an administrative message posted Friday, the Corps is updating the “forced march” portion of the training and readiness manuals for grunts and reconnaissance units.

The changes now require these Marines to be able to move 32 km carrying an assault load of roughly 31kg in eight hours.

“The forced march will culminate and transition directly into an evaluated tactical exercise to test the unit’s ability to execute an extended foot movement under load and remain combat effective,” the MARADMIN reads.

According to the Marine Corps order covering the Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation, or MCCRE, the evaluated tactical event can be “offensive or defensive exercise, NBC [nuclear, biological, chemical] exercise, patrolling exercise” or an event related to a unit’s mission essential tasks. That order was signed in Feb. 2019.

The forced marches are intended to be part of and integrated with a unit’s MCCRE, which tests a unit’s ability to carry out core tasks. Marine units are required to conduct a MCCRE every two years or once during a deployment cycle.

These Marines will need to be able to move 15 km in four hours carrying a fighting load of 55 pounds, “with 95 percent of the force remaining mission capable,” according to the MARADMIN.

Many of these units like artillery, tanks, engineers and AAV Marines already had requirements for a four-hour 15 km movement in fighting load, according to their individual training and readiness manuals.

The infantry training and readiness manual breaks down hike loads into four categories: assault load, fighting load, approach march load and sustainment load.

The assault load is roughly 31kg and includes gear needed to carry out an assault.

The fighting load is roughly 25 kg and includes combat gear necessary for the immediate mission at hand.

The approach march load is just more than 40 kg and includes gear necessary for extended operations when resupply is still available.

The sustainment load is nearly 68 kg but is intended to supply a Marine from their pack when resupply is not available. The massive weight limits mobility and distances a Marine can march.

While the Corps is extending hike distances for some infantry Marines, it’s also working on reducing the load burden on grunts. The Corps is about to field lighter .50-cal polymer ammunition and is seeking lighter body armor.

Marine Corps Training and Education Command signed off on the new training and readiness manual changes in November 2018.

He was the first U.S. Marine Raider to attend the course and the first American to graduate with the Commando “Moniteur” avec “Aptitude,” the highest distinction given upon graduation.A gunnery sergeant and critical skills operator with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command, recently graduated the French Commando “Moniteur” Training Course in Mont-Louis, France. The 26-day course, conducted entirely in French, is intended for officers and non-commissioned officers. Its curriculum targets combat infantry training, special operations and survival skills.“I did two weeks of review before departing for the course,” explained the gunnery sergeant. “In the course information packet there was a list of topics and knowledge that we would be covering in the course that we needed to be capable of effectively communicating. Knowing the content we would be covering made my language review easier and a lot more targeted.” Training and skills development are a way of life for Raiders. Highlights of their training include tactical skills such as close-quarters combat techniques, explosive ordnance disposal training, survival in austere environments, hand-to-hand combatives and skills required for Raiders’ amphibious operations. While these are important, Raiders are expected to train and operate with foreign partner nation forces. To do this effectively, language skills are critically important to mission success. “Being a CSO, you have to go through so many other schools and tests that, in that aspect at least, I was prepared for this course,” said the Marine Raider. “It was adding in the language that changed that and made things difficult.”The course developed commando techniques in its students through challenges such as obstacle courses, rappelling, guerilla warfare tactics, amphibious insertion procedures, rescues techniques and grueling physical fitness events. The Marine attributed his success in the French Commando course to his prior training and operational experience with MARSOC and his commitment to sustaining his personal readiness. “Students must be highly motivated and willing to make extreme efforts in regard to a language barrier,” the Marine Raider said. “If I hadn’t had a background in a majority of the techniques they were going over, I wouldn’t have been successful at all.”The gunnery sergeant built upon his language foundations established as a young child through personal commitment to sustainment. In particular, he used French language news sites and podcasts to keep his fluency fresh, but one of the most advantageous training assets available to him were fellow francophone Raiders.“We knew the gunnery sergeant would be a great candidate for this and that he’d represent the command and the Marine Corps well,” said the Marine Raider Regiment’s language program manager. “He far exceeded our expectations by being the first American to receive the course’s highest distinction upon graduating.” While much of the tactical training and physical challenges were similar to those encountered in the Raider training pipeline, the challenges of a language immersion environment created a substantial challenge as a non-native speaker. “I didn’t have a choice but to use the language and there was an initial struggle,” the Raider said. “The formality and the speed that the instructors spoke in was difficult to understand at times, and they wouldn’t slow down just for you.”The Raider identified the language sustainment opportunity as one of the biggest benefits of participating in the course. As opposed to a classroom setting, the tactical environment and real-world training and operational applications provided hands-on learning opportunities that would not be available in casual conversation or in a classroom lecture.The goal of the Marine Raider Regiment’s language program is to sustain the language and culture skills taught to CSOs at the Marine Raider Training Center, then enhance them to a much higher level in preparation for upcoming mission requirements. “Language training doesn’t always have to be in a classroom,” the language program manager said. “Living, eating, training and interacting with one another 24/7 for an extended amount of time provides a level and depth of knowledge you just can’t get in an academic setting. This training was not designed to be a language sustainment event, but I looked at this course as a perfect way to inject sustainment into an awesome course. Graduating this course is one heck of an accomplishment, but to graduate this grueling course that is not taught in your native tongue, and to do so as a distinguished graduate, like [this] gunnery sergeant did, is absolutely amazing.”Given the central role played by foreign language skills in determining special operations mission success, MARSOC’s language program has taken great strides in “operationalizing” language sustainment training -- part of that initiative is to seek out innovative immersion opportunities, such as this course.“Attending a course like this is great both personally and operationally,” said the Marine Raider. “The personal benefits are high because it allows you to keep your language skills up. Operationally it’s a great course because it helps with building rapport and communication capabilities.”

Congress wants a review of the Corps’ plan to distribute forces across the Indo-PacificBy: Shawn Snow and Todd South

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are asking for a review of the U.S. military’s plans to distribute forces across the Indo-Pacific in places like Okinawa, Japan, Guam, Hawaii and Australia, among other locations.

Noting a “pressing need” to redistribute Marines from Okinawa in the Senate’s recent version of the annual defense legislation — lawmakers want an update on costs of the redistribution of forces in the region and an “assessment” of those forces’ ability to “respond to current and future contingencies."

According to the Senate’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, details of “alternative locations for basing” in places such as Alaska, Hawaii, the U.S., Japan and Oceania, among others, should be included in any recommendations or revisions to the planned redistribution of American forces across the Indo-Pacific.

The new assessment of the U.S. military’s force posture in the Pacific follows a call for a review of a plan to relocate Marines to Guam made by outgoing-Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Robert B. Neller during a May Senate hearing.

During that hearing, Neller expressed concerns about the availability of amphibious ships to move Marines to the fight.

Neller told lawmakers that high speed vessels could move Marines and gear around, but that option would not be adequate to move a larger force.

Marines would need strategic lift, but "you’d have to resources it and pay for it or you’d have to have ampibs come from either Japan or the U.S. mainland or you would have to contract for it,” Neller said.

In December 2018 the Corps briefed to Congress its Pacific posture and force redistribution plan known as the Defense Policy Review Initiative, or DPRI.

That DPRI brief — obtained by Marine Corps Times through a government record’s request — highlighted that “further distribution of the force exacerbates a shortfall in Navy amphibious shipping and dedicated sea surface lift capacity.”

The brief also noted that “sustainment for Guam is a significant bill which must be addressed and balanced across other DoD priorities.”

The Corps is seeking to trim its nearly 20,600 Marines stationed on Okinawa in half down to roughly 11,500.

The redistribution is part of the Corps’ effort to ameliorate tensions and return land occupied since Wolrd War II back to local Okinawans.

But the redistribution of Marines across the Indo-Pacific is also strategic.

Decentralizing Marines across the region complicates any attack by Chinese forces in the region. Moving the mass concentration of Marines off Okinawa means China can no longer concentrate ballistic missile attacks in one region.

According to the DPRI brief, the Corps wants to relocate about 1,300 Marines to Australia, 4,100 to Guam and about 2,700 Marines to Hawaii.

The Corps plans to have a total force of about 5,000 Marines on Guam by 2028. The first Marines are expected to start arriving by 2024.

The Navy and Marine Corps have already sunk considerable investments into building ranges and facilities on Guam.

According to the DPRI, nine projects have been completed, 12 construction projects are underway, another 30 projects and contracts are expected to be awarded over the next two years and an additional 50 projects are slated for future planning.

The Corps wants training ranges on Tinian, Pagan and separate islands in the Northern Marianas.

The training ranges on Pagan will provide a “premier US-controlled Pacific venue” for amphibious training, Marine Expeditionary Unit-level live fire combined arms exercises and “uniquely meets” training deficiencies identified by U.S. Pacific Command in the areas of close air support, naval gunfire and artillery direct fire, according to the DPRI.

The current Senate version of the annual defense legislation has about $226 million slated for Navy construction on Guam and the Joint Region Marianas.

The new force posture review in the Indo-Pacific region also calls for an assessment of the “adequacy of current and expected training resources at each location” and “ability to train against the full spectrum of threats from near-peer or peer threats,” the Senate version of the NDAA reads.

The review also calls for an “assessment of political support for United States force presence from host countries and local communities and populations,” the Senate version of the NDAA states.